AMC Launches Protect the View Campaign
By Mark Zakutansky, Director of Conservation Policy Engagement, Appalachian Mountain Club
The online campaign, Protect the View, seeks to build awareness and support for the protection of trail views and experiences within the greater Philadelphia area’s Circuit Trails network.
In partnership with trail organizations and agencies, Appalachian Mountain Club (AMC) held an online event in mid-December (view the recording here) to launch the Protect the View campaign at ProtecttheView.com. Protect the View is a science-based campaign and call to action resulting from rigorous conservation and land development analyses. The launch event covered a review of the underlying visual assessment research, a virtual tour of the Protect the View website including the ten selected trails focus areas and the corresponding interactive maps, photos and videos, a discussion of the need for a partner-based approach to trail view and land protection advocacy, and an introduction to the social media toolkit.
Protect the View builds on the Circuit Trails Visual Assessment Project, which provides information on high conservation value unprotected land along 30 trails in the Circuit. Protect the View centers on ten focus areas along six Circuit Trails that contain land within a valued trail viewshed that is vulnerable to development pressure.
These are the ten focus areas of the campaign (which are all located in the Delaware River Watershed):
Big Woods Vista: Hopewell Big Woods Trail (Berks County, PA)
Douglassville Views: Schuylkill River Trail (Berks County, PA)
Neversink Foothills: Schuylkill River Trail (Berks County, PA)
Chester Valley Views: Chester Valley Trail (Chester County, PA)
Hilltown Farms: East Branch Perkiomen Trail (Bucks County, PA)
Schuylkill River at Oaks: Schuylkill River Trail (Montgomery County, PA)
Schuylkill Riverbend at Spring City: Schuylkill River Trail (Montgomery County, PA)
Forested Ridges of the Delaware: D&L Trail (Warren County, NJ)
Delaware & Tohickon Junction: D&L Trail (Hunterdon County, NJ)
Kinkora Farmlands: Kinkora Trail (Burlington County, NJ)
ProtecttheView.com provides a webpage for each trail view focus area with an interactive map, photos, and video footage. Also highlighted are planning and population data that provide quick conservation facts about each trail focus area and links to the research underlying the Protect the View campaign. Finally, the site includes a “Take Action” section where visitors to the site can send an email to their state representatives asking them to support funding for open space protection.
The Protect the View social media toolkit is provided to help partners mobilize their audiences to advocate for open space funding, a critical resource for protecting trail landscapes. The social media toolkit includes Protect the View branding assets, sample hashtags and conservation-related phrasing, sample social media posts, and access to photos and videos of the ten focus areas.
The Protect the View campaign will run for about a year and interested organizations and individuals can access the website and data during that time. Any questions about the Protect the View campaign can be directed to Mark Zakutansky.